The Underground
by QueenAllan
Summary: The Equalists have won and The Avatar is dead, but the fight against Amon continues.
1. Chapter 1

The Avatar was dead and Republic City was in flames. In the sky the flying bison circled carrying air acolytes and Tenzin's family. They flew away from Republic City, their hearts and minds scarred forever. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Meelo, Jinora and Ikki were curled around Pema who was holding the newborn Rohan. Tenzin watched them from the reins. His eyes sad and distant. He set the reins down and walked to them, cloak billowing behind him and settled in with his family. They wept.

Mako, Bolin and Asami were on another bison, being directed by an air acolyte. The three of them sat together staring over the side of the saddle at Republic City. The Fire Nation was doing what they could, but Republic City wouldn't survive this war.

The Equalists were winning and the nonbenders were standing together against benders. Mako stared, eyes void of life, at the place he called home. To his right he heard Bolin fail at restraining a whimper and he moved. An arm reached around Bolin holding him while he cried. Asami's arm snaked around Mako's waist and together they shed tears in memory of Korra.

Naga raced through the streets of Republic City, heading towards the outer walls, but a squad of equalists came from nowhere. They tossed their cords, wrapping them around Naga's paws and shocked her until she fell down.

And standing tall in an airship, grinning beneath his mask, Amon stood and stared over his soon to be victory over Republic City.

Weeks passed and the people filtered through the streets again. The Fire Nation had left, realizing the oncoming defeat. They ran hoping to regroup and keep their bending until then. Nonbenders were all that was left in Republic City and the benders who hadn't been able to escape were kept in prison until the day they came face to face with Amon, who took their bending without empathy.

The city was in ruins but buildings were still standing and no one was turned away from a place to sleep in the days that followed. People were celebrating and they whispered to each other as they passed, "The Avatar is dead."

Rumors started about how it happened. Most of them say that Amon was the hero who saved them from the Avatar. Some of them say that he killed her while she was in the Avatar State and there would never be an Avatar again. Another version says that she sacrificed herself, hoping to end the war with her death. The people who believed this version of the story were laughed at for portraying the Avatar as a good-willed person.

A man walked through the marketplace listening to the whispers about the Avatar. Hands in his pockets and head facing the ground. He paused when some children ran in front of him before turning around the corner. The Avatar is dead? Something in him moved and he picked up his pace when he felt it.

The man hurried forward, his destination coming closer. He turned down an alley to find a kid sitting in front of the only door there. The kid looked up and smirked before looking back towards the ground. He held out his hand.

"Move it, Scoochy, I don't have time for this," the man said. Scoochy leered at him.

"Shut it. I know you can't do anything anymore so fork over the yuan or you're not getting in," the boy called Scoochy spat. The man narrowed his eyes and pushed a dark bang out of his face. He took his stance, feeling around him and moved. Scoochy responded to the oncoming water whip by throwing a rock wall between him and the waterbender.

"Y-your-" Scoochy stuttered, his eyes wide as he pushed the wall down into the ground again.

Tahno flipped his hair out of his face again and grinned, "Now let me in."

Scoochy nodded and opened the door. The earthbending boy still in shock.

"Where are we going?" Asami asked the air acolyte, who was called Yuta. Bolin and Mako were both asleep on the far side of the bison.

Yuta glanced sideways at Asami before saying, "We're going to the Western Air Temple. There's a small settlement of air acolytes there. We'll be able to see it any time now." Asami thanked Yuta and walked to the side of the bison. She stared into the distance searching for the air temple and trying not to think about all the things that went wrong. Her hand ached a little and she looked down at it, seeing that she was still wearing the equalist glove she pulled it off and was about to throw it over the side of the bison, but decided against it.

"Hey," Mako's voice said from behind her. He put his arms around Asami and she leaned back into him, "Are you doing alright?"

Asami took a deep breath, gathering her strength to answer him, "No," was all she said. "I miss her, Mako," Her breath shuddered and she felt herself about to cry again. She held it in though. She couldn't cry forever. Mako was warm, like a firebender should be, she thought.

Bolin's voice was heard from the back as a gasp and Asami focused her attention on the front of the bison again. The Western Air Temple was hanging, upside down, from the cliff ledge. It was a breathtaking sight and Asami gasped herself. There were a couple smoke trails leading out from the temple and leaking up over the ledge. It was a strange sight, the opposite of a waterfall, Mako thought.

"Where are we?" Bolin asked, crawling to where Mako and Asami were, he wasn't comfortable on the bison.

"The Western Air Temple," Asami said, staring at the incredible architecture before them.

The bison landed and they climbed off, Tenzin was talking to the resident acolytes while the rest of his family was congregated to the side. The three of them walked over to Pema and she hugged them.

They were shown their new rooms, Mako and Bolin sharing and Asami getting her own across the hall. They were given a time to be at dinner and the three tried their best to get used to the new surroundings. It was hard to forget that they were actually suspended from just a cliffside. Bolin reassured himself by telling himself that the cliff had held the Western Air Temple since before The Hundred Years War. So for at least two hundred years the temple had held. It wasn't as reassuring as it could have been.

"What are we going to do, Tenzin?" Pema asked her husband, holding the sleeping Rohan in her arms. Their other children were also asleep behind them.

"I don't know, Pema." Tenzin responded softly. He was staring out the window into the distance. The wind was blowing in giving tenzin a serene feeling of comfort.

"What's going to happen now?" She asked again.

"The other Nations will be here within the week. We're safe as long as we're not on Republic soil. We'll decide what to do then." He responded still staring out into the dark. He felt Pema standing close behind him and the silence thickened with the question he knew she was going to ask.

"What about Korra?"

He turned to look at her, then, his eyes red from crying and tears shining on his cheeks. "I don't know."

They held each other until the morning.

A month after they arrived at The Western Air Temple the leaders from the other nations had gathered. There were huge pavilions set up on top of the cliff creating an interesting sight from the sky.

Tenzin was constantly in meetings leaving Pema, Mako, Bolin and Asami waiting around for hours for any kind of news. Katara was there, and had stories to tell of the nights that her and Avatar Aang had spent with their friends there including how Sokka had defeated Combustion Man.

Time moved slowly, but the ache they all felt for Korra didn't leave. It hurt them to hear people refer to her as 'Avatar Korra' or 'The Avatar' because it only reinforced the fact that she was gone.

They spent the hours doing chores, helping the acolytes, and keeping themselves busy. It was a welcome distraction from reality. Tenzin finally called them together to talk to them.

"The other Nations have decided to provide sanctuary to any renegade benders or nonbender bender supporters from Amon's Equalist forces. They don't believe Amon will try to expand out of Republic City, he may be strong there, but against entire Armies no chi blocker force stands a chance. Sato's technology or not." He told them, his voice authoritative and strong. They listened to him, knowing exactly what he meant by the speech. "As Air Nomads and Acolytes Pema, the children and I will remain here at The Western Air Temple, but you three may go to wherever you like. An acolyte will take you on a bison if you wish to leave. You're welcome to remain here if you like."

Mako stood and stared at the ground for a moment before making eye contact with Tenzin, "I'd like to join the fight against Amon." He said quietly. Bolin and Asami both looked at him, their faces sad. Bolin stood and nodded his agreement.

"Me too." He said, placing a hand on Mako's shoulder. Asami stood as well, going to stand next to Mako.

"And me."

Tenzin looked at them, and though it was sad, he felt proud of the kids standing before him.

"Very well, then."


	2. Chapter 2

"We'll see each other again, okay?" Mako said to Bolin. They had both enlisted in their element's armies in order to join the fight against Amon. Mako was being sent to the Fire Nation to train and Bolin would be heading to Ba Sing Se.

"Promise?" Bolin asked, and not for the last time Mako wondered if Bolin would be okay on his own.

"I promise." Mako said. They hugged tightly and then finally parted. They wouldn't see each other for months and they both knew that. Mako walked to where Asami was waiting, she'd already said goodbye to Bolin. Asami had enlisted with the Fire Nation as well. They would stay together until they got to the base where Mako would be training and then they would have to part as well.

"It's sad," Asami said as she took Mako's hand. Mako was focusing on the red emblem on the fire nation's air ships. The scenery in the background. His eyes traced the outline of the hull of the ships when the full force of the fact that he would be spending months away from Bolin hit him he squeezed Asami's hand tighter and fought back the tears keeping them from spilling onto his cheeks. His teeth clenched and Asami lowered her head knowing that Mako and Bolin were the only family the other had left.

The two of them boarded the air ship and changed into their new uniforms. Mako taking off his father's scarf and putting it in the bag with the rest of his civilian clothes. He felt weird without it's comforting , but it would be worth the separation when he got revenge for Korra.

In contrast, Bolin was sobbing openly in front of the other earthbending soldiers whose resilience was usually unmatched in strength and solidity. They were put off by this open display of unsettling emotion.

"Are you alright?" An earthbender asked Bolin looking down at him confused.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Bolin replied standing up. "I'm Bolin," He said holding out his hand and simultaneously regaining composure.

"Akio." The other man said, shaking Bolin's hand, "Just a tip, for appearances sake, earthbenders don't usually act like that," Bolin just narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Act like what?" He asked and Akio wondered what Bolin was doing there.

"Just, try to keep a reign on yourself alright? People might think you're a little," he glanced around, the other earthbenders were sneaking glances at Bolin, indignant incredulity plastered to their faces, "Strange." Akio faced forward again, fully intending for that to be the end of their conversation.

"How long is the trip going to take?" Bolin asked, his voice deadpan. He missed his brother already.

"A couple weeks," Akio answered him. They rode in silence for a few hours and then it was Bolin's shift to drive the tank they were in. Akio was on the same shift so gave Bolin a quick how-to on the complete operation of the tank. After a few hours of this he was hot and sweaty in his uniform. He took off his helmet and sat down. Grateful that his shift was over. He'd trained hard as a probender, but the traditional style of earthbending was at a different level than he was.

"Not used to standing so wide are you?" Akio asked watching Bolin from a few feet away, "You'll get conditioned pretty quick. Just gotta get the traditional style back in you."

"I never learned the traditional style," Bolin said, "It's harder than I thought it was. Why do you guys stand like that anyways? It's so-"

"Obsolete? Blame the generals. They believe in tradition over efficiency," Akio laughed. He sat down next to Bolin and offered him a flask of water. Bolin took a long drink out of it.

"Thanks," he said, "So what's Ba Sing Se like?"

Akio laughed, "It's big, bigger than Republic City," Bolin was impressed, he couldn't imagine a city bigger than Republic City, but he hadn't seen another one or at least couldn't remember another one very well.

Over the next couple weeks Bolin became attached to Akio like a dog on a leash. It wasn't unwelcome though as Akio treated Bolin respectfully and tried to help him get settled in. The other earthbenders were used to Bolin by the time the tanks got to Ba Sing Se and Bolin had readjusted his fighting style back to the traditional technique. He missed his quick probending style, but he had to follow rules now. Especially since Mako wasn't there to help him.

One night when the party had stopped to rest they were sitting around a fire, Bolin was sitting right beside Akio, he was answering questions about Korra.

"Tell us something about the avatar!" An older earthbender had demanded and Bolin obliged. Telling them how he'd met Korra when she'd snuck into the probending arena. Then he told the story of how they became teammates, scolding Hasook in the process. He told the time when Korra and Tahno met face to face at the seaweed noodle bar and of Naga.

"Naga shoved her face through the window and roared, it scared the hair of Tahno, if you know what I mean," Bolin summarized, ending his story. It helped to tell these stories about Korra.

At least he thought it did.

"How did Avatar Korra die?" another earthbender asked. Bolin stopped, his smile falling off his face.

"Shut it, Kahn." Akio said sharply, "He's not ready to talk about that yet. "

"No, I'm ready." Bolin said softly.

"Are you sure, Bolin? You don't have to do this yet, you can take as much time as you need," Akio said to him. Bolin shook his head.

"No, I can do this," He whispered, more to himself in response to Akio. Which didn't give Akio much reassurance in the matter. "We were downstairs, fighting off the Equalists. Korra has run upstairs to where Amon was at." The memory flashed through his mind like a jagged piece of glass, "she was fighting him and doing well, but he just," Bolin froze, "He moves so fast. By the time she threw an attack at him, he'd already foreseen the attacks and was able to dodge them." Another piece of glass, "We were told that she assumed he was just dodging her attacks, but he wasn't. He was leading her to her own..." Bolin's breath caught in his throat, "The roof caved on her, she'd firebent the support away and then the floor caved beneath her. She was crushed to death. It's what we were told anyways. We never got to see her again." Bolin knew he was crying now, he could feel the tears on his face.

"A toast," Akio said, standing then, "to Avatar Korra." The earthbenders raised their glasses and roared together. Thanking Korra. It only brought more tears to Bolin's eyes, "And to Bolin." The sound was deafening and Bolin was hugging Akio for it. He didn't know how else to hold on, except to clutch to someone real and keep himself from spiraling out of control.

He missed Korra so much.

The Equalist raid wasn't able to surprise them, among some of the party were students of Lin Beifong's. They felt them coming from a mile away.

So when the raid started, everybody was prepared.

Chi blockers whirled into action assuming they had the element of surprise, but the ground gave them away. It didn't take more than a couple seconds to knock out all the Equalists and take them prisoner.

Tenzin was wrong, then. Amon wasn't going to stay on Republic soil. He was going to abolish bending world wide. Bolin felt a fire in his stomach at the thought of Amon hurting anymore people. He'd already murdered his friend, but it hadn't disarmed the world as he thought he'd done. Killing the Avatar seemed to rile up more bending supporters than before.

If Amon wanted to take over the world, then he'd have to take out Bolin first and Bolin wasn't going down. He was a soldier of the Earth Kingdom and earthbenders didn't fall.

They continued on their journey the next morning as if it hadn't happened, and Bolin's attitude was visibly altered by the attack. He was less energetic, his emotions not displayed across his entire body as they had been before and the earthbenders who had grown used to the overly compassionate Bolin were unsettled by it.

Akio could see the struggle Bolin was going through, though. Even though his face wasn't contorted into extravagant displays of happy or sad, there was still that glimmer in Bolin's eyes that said he missed someone. He missed Korra.

They reached the outerwall of Ba Sing Se late that day. The native earthbenders cheering at the sight of their home. Bolin was amazed at the wall. He'd heard the stories of Avatar Aang and The Battle of Ba Sing Se. It was one of his favorites when he was a child to hear about King Bumi's recapturing of the Earth Kingdom capitol.

"Ba Sing Se. Welcome home, Bolin." Akio said, clapping his hand on Bolin's shoulder.

"Home?" Bolin asked, his home was Republic City, with Mako, with Korra.

"To an earthbender, Ba Sing Se will always be home." Bolin took a deep breath and went to take the final shift of driving the tanks. They'd be at the innerwall in a half hour and then they'd rest for the day before training started tomorrow. Bolin was ready and Akio finally understood why Bolin was there.

The firebenders were strong, and Mako knew that. They were more advanced than he was in their technique, but Mako was gifted. He kept up easily with their training. The other firebenders didn't take much notice of him, exchanging conversation only when necessary because Mako kept to himself mostly.

The day finally came when Mako was made to duel with the other firebenders and he was holding his own pretty well, but he wasn't gaining any ground on them, especially when they attacked two or three at a time. Getting frustrated he resorted to probending techniques that he'd used against the Equalists.

He quickly took out the two benders who were coming at him using a series of quick short strikes that flustered his opponents and knocked them down.

Their commander watched, impressed by the display, taking note to keep an eye on Mako.

"Good job today," his opponent said to him, "where'd you learn those moves?"

"Um, taught myself in Republic City," Mako answered, wiping his face of sweat. He took a drink of water, and tried to leave for the next training.

"Natural talent, huh? You should show me sometime when we're not working," the man said, walking beside Mako.

"Okay?" Mako replied, confused, he just wanted to get to the next training and then go back to his room. He didn't want to sit around and make friends. All he wanted to focus on was taking out Amon.

"I'm Zhin."

"Mako." Mako replied, his indignation seeping into his voice now.

"Alright, see you later, Mako," Zhin said before jogging away. Mako shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, annoyed.

"You get used to Zhin, he's got a kind of high-energy personality," the voice came from a woman stretching a few feet away. Mako recognized her as one of the new recruits called to demonstrate their talents in the duels. She would be performing soon.

"So he's not just gonna leave me alone eventually?"

"Definitely not," the girl replied, laughing. She stood up, then and walked to one side of the dueling platform. She bowed to her three opponents before the fight started.

The three firebenders came at her all at once, but the girl backflipped away and dealt a single spinning kick that threw the three firebenders out of the arena. She's strong, Mako thought, stronger than me.

At dinner that night, Mako was sitting at the end of a table on his own like he usually did when Zhin sat down across from him.

"Hey, Mako! How's it going?" He asked excitedly, digging into his food with enthusiasm that Mako has only ever seen in Bolin. Mako was kind of startled by his sudden presence and question and so he hesitated for a split second to answer.

"Fine, I guess," Mako said, continuing his meal. Zhin was already almost half done with his dinner and he'd only been there a few seconds. He's a hungry guy, Mako thought.

"Awesome," Zhin said, "Hey, can I ask you a question?" Mako looked up from his tray and saw that Zhin had stopped eating to watch Mako. "What's Republic City like?"

Mako took a moment to think about it, but he couldn't figure out the words to describe it. He'd never thought what it was like while he was living there, but he knew that he missed the big city setting. "I don't know it's just," he started awkwardly, "I can't explain it, I don't know, it's...big?" Mako said.

"Wow," Zhin said, "I've never been to a big city before. I just want to know what to expect, you know?"

"Well, it probably won't be what you expect anymore," Mako started, "The last time I saw it the city was burning down." The table had gotten quiet then, they all wanted to hear about the battle for Republic City. "The Equalists were trying to capture as many benders as possible, so everyone was fighting back. Firebenders, earthbenders. The city will probably be in ruins when we get there."

Zhin watched Mako with a sad look on his face. He was as easy to read as Bolin had been and Mako felt a pang in his chest at the thought of Bolin. He missed his brother and he wondered how he was doing.

"Don't stop now, fire ferret, tell us more," said the girl from a few places down the table. Her arms were crossed on the table and she was leaning towards where Mako was, "There has to be more to the story than that. Weren't you friends with Avatar Korra?"

The table focused their whole attention to Mako now, not many people knew of Mako's affiliation with Korra. Mako thought he could hear Zhin's jaw drop to the floor.

"You knew The Avatar?" Zhin asked, amazed. He mouthed the word, "Wow."

"Yeah, we were on the same probending team together and I lived at Air Temple Island for a while, too," Mako explained. He didn't feel like telling any stories about it, but all eyes were on him now and so he decided to summarize the time he met Korra to the time they escaped Republic City. He skipped over the part of how she died, but he didn't think anybody noticed it.

A week later Mako was on break, he was sitting on a bench outside of the training room where soldiers were sparring with each other.

"So how'd it happen, then?" Asked a voice, Mako looked up to see the girl from the duels and from dinner.

"How'd what happen?" He asked, although he knew exactly what she was talking about. She wanted to hear about Korra, but Mako didn't think he could talk about it yet.

"The Avatar, how'd she die?" The girl had a very cool attitude about her. She didn't seem to be bothered by anything in particular.

Mako didn't say anything, he just took another drink of his water. "Come on, just tell me, I'm curious," she said sitting next to me.

"She was killed by Amon that's all you need to know," he said, his voice stern. He stood and took a few steps to the door. He opened it and was about to walk inside.

"The names Malana," she said, still sitting on the bench. Mako went back into the training room.

He passed the time when wasn't training by training with Zhin, teaching him probending techniques and moves, but it was clear that Zhin didn't have the agility that Mako had from the years of training with these techniques. He was learning, though, and getting better. Even without Mako's level of agility, he was still getting stronger than most of the other firebenders.

Zhin reminded Mako of Bolin a lot and grew comfortable around him. It wasn't uncommon for people to see the two of them together outside of training.

Mako didn't see a lot of Malana since the moment in the hallway. They saw each other in passing, but didn't talk or even acknowledge the other. Mako didn't care either way, but he was afraid that Malana was going to ask him about Korra again, which was something he didn't want to talk about or even be asked about because he still felt it as if it had just happened.

They were called to duel again a few weeks later, so the commander could see what kind of progress they were making, but when they arrived at the duel arena, there were no experienced firebending officers there. They were going to duel in pairs against each other.

I'm with Malana, Mako read off the list posted on the wall, Of course. They would be fighting in teams. Mako was used to this fighting style, but from what he'd seen, Malana was a full power kind of girl who liked to take out everyone as quickly as possible. Mako was more patient. He wondered how well they'd do together.

They stood across the platform from their opponents and Malana leaned to Mako and whispered, "I'll take the one on your side, you get mine. It'll throw them off." He didn't feel like making any attempt at strategizing with her so he was ready to let her call the shots.

When the sign to start was given Malana instantly leaped into action, cartwheeling a fireball at her opponent, who dodged the attack. Mako leapt forward dealing several punches and firing quick fire daggers at the boy that Malana had told him to attack. The other firebender deflected them laughing an attack of his own at Mako who also deflected easily.

Malana slid to the ground slicing her foot across the floor and sending a parallel blast at her opponent's torso. The firebender leapt through the middle of the double blow whirling. Mako saw the attack and sent a couple punches after Malana's blow which their opponent didn't see coming. The fireballs met their target and sent the bender flying out of the arena.

Malana leapt to her feet, deflecting an attack that was headed for Mako who used a fire whip on their opponent, sneaking in again from behind Malana. He threw the other bender out of the arena as well.

Well then, apparently they do work good together.


	3. Chapter 3

Tahno had to cut his hair because it was the only way to keep people from recognizing him easily on the streets. His hair was kind of his trademark. He couldn't be recognized when he was up above because otherwise he'd be arrested, and he couldn't risk having his bending taken away again.

The renegades had been so relieved to see Tahno bending, it rallied some kind of unified spirit among them. Amon wasn't in control anymore. Not like they thought he'd been. Of course, he still had control of the city and there were Equalists everywhere, but they could fight back now. Without fear.

Tahno admired his new haircut in the mirror, it was short, shorter than any waterbender wore it. Hopefully that would throw people off as well. He washed his hair using waterbending simply for the fact that he could.

The renegades were organizing themselves, getting ready to move back aboveground. They missed the sunlight and the open air, and they couldn't stay down there for too long. Equalists were still hunting for benders. Some nonbenders were down there with them and they promised to house them and hide them. Eventually they would be able to get their jobs and lives back again.

They'd sent word to the other nations letting them know that there were still benders there and they needed help, but no response had arrived. Until they got a reply, they rallied together. Working on anti-chi blocker attacks and how to resist their strikes.

The antiequalist movement was small, that was for sure. There were less than a hundred of them left in Republic City. The other benders or bender supporters had gotten out or had gotten captured. So recruitment was their first and primary goal. A small group of benders were going to find the captives and rescue them, they had some metalbending armor that they'd be wearing so the chi blockers wouldn't be able to stop them from bending.

Tahno was part of the team and he ached to get his hands dirty just to rub it in Amon's face. He wanted to show Amon that he wasn't down for the count. Not by a long shot.

He walked into an antechamber of the tunnel system the renegades were staying and was surprised.

"Asami Sato, what a pleasant surprise," Tahno said, his eyes narrowing as he smiled. Asami was wearing a Fire Nation uniform. She was taking off her gloves and a helmet was sitting on the table in the room.

"Tahno," she said, nodding, "I'm here representing The Fire Nation." That was a surprise to Tahno, Asami Sato had joined the military? He always did like a woman in uniform.

"And?" Tahno asked, waiting.

"An invasion force is being prepared, but there's going to have to be some communication set up. We can't go into this blindly. The other Nations are gathering forces as well. There's no way Amon can withhold an attack from all four nations."

"You talk as though the Air Nomads are a force to be reckoned with, Asami," Tahno started, "But you and I both know that Tenzin is the only one left." Asami smiled at Tahno's remark.

"You'd be surprised at what the Acolytes have put together, Tahno. Nice hair, by the way," she led the way back out of the antechamber, grabbing her helmet on the way, and into the main tunnel where the bulk of the renegades were working. "So, what's the plan for these guys?" She asked.

"We're rescuing the captives from the Equalist Prison tonight. We have metalbender uniforms so the chi blockers can't stop us from bending. There'll be ten of us going." Tahno said, Asami glanced sideways as him.

"You can handle fighting chi blockers without your bending?" She asked cautiously.

"I fully intend to fight using my bending, Asami," Tahno replied, "Amon isn't the god he thinks he is." He opened a canister attached to his waist and pulled the water stored inside out of it. Asami couldn't help but smile seeing Tahno bending. It was a miracle and a source of inspiration. They needed to get the word out to the other benders. Everyone whose bending had been taken away.

"Have you assembled your team yet?" She asked as Tahno replaced the water into the bottle. She noticed that there were at least three others on his hips and could see a bulky object in one of his sleeves. Tahno was prepared.

"Yes," Tahno answered, "Why?"

The Northern Air Temple was a busy place. Tenzin had relocated there from the Western Air Temple a few days after Korra's friends had left. It had expanded since The Hundred Years War into a technological marvel. Air acolytes learned to fly there, embracing the true meaning of the air nomads by feeling the free spiritedness given by flight.

The air acolytes and Tenzin would be in charge of getting any refugees out of Republic City when the time came. Airships were too slow for effective means of escape. The acolytes had built a larger glider that seated a small group of people. It was small enough that Tenzin could fly it effectively and fast enough that it could carry several groups of people to safety in a short amount of time.

"Tenzin the kids are worried," Pema said from behind him. Tenzin turned to see that Pema was holding Rohan in her arms and he was reaching for Tenzin. He took the child from her and held him in the air, smiling up at him. The baby smiled back down.

"Where are they?"

"In our room."

Tenzin walked into their bedroom a few minutes later to find the kids sitting on the edge of the bed. Jinora was sitting between Ikki and Meelo and had her arms around her brother and sister.

"What's wrong?" Tenzin asked, sitting next to them. They looked up at him and Ikki moved from holding Jinora to holding her father.

"We miss Korra, daddy," she said, crying into his robes. His heart sank because there wasn't anything that he could do to make them feel better about this. He pulled them all into his arms and held them close.

"I miss her, too, kids," he said, "I miss her, too."

Asami's electrified glove proved to be a useful addition to Tahno's team. Her fighting was beyond that of the chi blockers and she easily took out the guards in front. Tahno used some of his water to take out two more guards once inside by knocking them out with ice.

A metalbender in their group opened the first cells, letting a dozen or so prisoners free. Two of them still had their bending and stayed with the group. The others went outside to the rendezvous party.

The group easily caught all of the guards in the prison by surprise and took them out. Within the next hour they'd set everyone in the prison free. There were close to hundred people in the prison, but only a dozen or so hadn't had their bending taken away yet.

Tahno and Asami were on their way out when the retaliation hit. Everyone who had gotten outside had got away, but Tahno and Asami were still inside. They had been securing the guards in one of the prison cells when they found themselves surrounded.

There were probably twenty equalists there in the hallway.

"Tahno, get the ground wet," Asami whispered staring down the opposing force. Tahno pulled the remaining water out of evey container he had and threw it at the equalists. They were pushed back and they were all soaking wet now. Asami pulled off her glove and turned it on, tossing it the few feet to the puddle.

The sound of the shock was deafening, but the Equalists were knocked out. Tahno and Asami ran outside. There was no one out there that they could see and they continued to run, heading for the rendezvous point, but the chi blockers were behind them. Asami didn't have her glove anymore and Tahno was out of water until they got to the river, so they ran.

A rope wrapped itself around Asami's ankles and she fell. Tahno stopped, but the chi blockers were already on her and he started running again. There was nothing he could do to help her without water. They'd have to rescue her another day. Tahno tried to convince himself that the people they'd saved that night made up for the loss of one.

This was war, after all, but the thought didn't settle in his stomach right. Because Asami Sato had been his first loss in this war and he hadn't been ready to deal with that feeling.

At least she wasn't a bender. Amon didn't have anything to take away from her.

"Bolin, the whole point of the exercise is for you to feel your way around. I'm not going to tell you where the kitchen is," Akio laughed as Bolin picked himself from the ground again. Bolin wasn't to report for training until he could see without his eyes and that was proving difficult for him.

The concept had been explained to him that he needed to be a more patient earthbender. Willing to do what it takes to get what he wants, but understanding that not everything comes now. It was a block that he was having difficulty dealing with.

Bolin couldn't see anything. He could feel the ground with his feet and feel the vibrations, but they hadn't translated into anything for him in his brain. He could tell you when someone was coming, but not who they were or where they were coming from.

"I need to eat! How am I supposed to learn seismic sense on an empty stomach?" Bolin complained, his arms held out in front of him to keep him from falling. He felt his way along one wall of the house he was sharing with Akio until he found a doorway. He took a step and fell forward onto his face not expecting it to be a step down.

"You found the exit, Bolin," Akio said laughing from inside. Bolin stood up and felt his way back inside. He knew the way to the kitchen from the front door. He could make it. Akio watched as Bolin walked and turned with perfect 90 degree pivots until he made it to the kitchen. "That's incredible. Now, you just need to memorize the streets of Ba Sing Se like that and you can come to training with me." Akio joked, but stopped laughing at the sight of someone in the doorway.

"Tenzin?" Bolin took off his blindfold. He hadn't gotten seismic sense, but if it were anyone else he would have felt them coming. This person had fallen out of the sky.

It was Tenzin, he held his glider in one hand, "Bolin," he said, "How are you?"

"What happened?"

"Nothing, yet," Tenzin said, "I'm here on business with the Earth King and came to see how things were going."

"Things are going good. I'm going to start training soon," Bolin said, "What are you talking to the Earth King about?" He asked, curious as always.

Tenzin hesitated because he hadn't planned on telling Bolin why he'd came, "It's about," he started, "The Avatar."

"You mean Korra?" Bolin asked, confused. What would Tenzin be talking to the Earth King about Korra for? As far as he knew they had never met.

"No, not Korra," Tenzin said, his eyes sad, "The next Avatar. The Earth Kingdom is next in the cycle."

Bolin lowered his head. A new Avatar had probably already been born since Korra had died. Bolin had forgotten about that part of Korra being the Avatar. He'd forgotten that she was actually different from the rest of them.

"Oh."

"You have to be quicker than that, in probending if you're not fast enough you'll get knocked off the Arena before you even have a chance to strike back," Mako explained to Zhin.

Zhin had learned all the steps and all the forms of Mako's probending techniques, but he was still slowed down by the traditional circles in firebending.

"This isn't probending, Mako, this is war," Zhin argued, "The technique isn't going to matter when we start fighting." Zhin was right, of course, the technique didn't matter as long as you weren't killed.

"Try to be faster, and then you'll be perfect," Mako said, "Come on, we're late for dinner."

They arrived in the dining hall and sat down at the end of a table together. Mako focused on his food while Zhin talked his ears off. They'd fallen into a pattern and Mako was getting restless. He'd been training for weeks and he'd passed every test they'd given him. It was probably why he'd gotten annoyed with Zhin's speed earlier. Mako was clearing his tray when Malana approached him.

"Commander Zo wants to see us," she said before walking off. Mako exchanged confused looks with Zhin, who shrugged, before following after Malana.

"What about?" Mako asked when he'd caught up. Malana shrugged and they finally made it to the Commander's office.

The guard outside let Commander Zo know they were there and the two of them went inside.

"You're being assigned to a case," The Commander started, wasting no time. He was a scrawny man, with an exceedingly long moustache. "We've been watching you two since you've gotten here and you've shown us that you have incredible talent and power, especially as partners, so we're sending you to Republic City undercover. You're going to infiltrate The Equalist Headquarters and assassinate one of their higher ranking officers. He is known as the Lieutenant and we believe he's responsible for the capture of the Fire Nation Councilwoman of Republic City."

The Commander passed a folder to each of them, inside was a picture of the Lieutenant. Mako recognized him as the chi blocker who told him that benders had no place in the world anymore.

"You leave tonight, your things have already been packed. An air ship will take you back to The Western Air Temple where you will then be taken by water to the United Republic of Nations where you will travel by ostrich horse to Republic City. The rest of the details are in your briefings. Dismissed."

The two of them stood and left, both ready to take on the mission assigned to them.

Asami probably should have seen this coming, though she hadn't planned on getting caught. She was currently staring down her father who was watching her being chained to a chair.

"I really don't want to do this, Asami," Hiroshi Sato started, "but-"

"I don't want to hear it, dad," She said, angry, "Just throw me back in the cell or better yet? Let me go!" Her father sighed, but didn't make any move to free her or to send her back to the holding cage.

"Why can't you see that what I'm doing is for your own safety? I've thought of nothing, but you this whole time! Since I became an Equalist this was all for you!" He yelled, raising his voice louder. Asami didn't flinch, bet kept their eye contact the whole time, unafraid of her father.

"I never asked you to do this, and I never felt afraid of benders," she responded, "They've done nothing to hurt us as a whole, father! You can't look past the bad that a few of them have done to see the good that millions of them do!" Asami was yelling too.

"I didn't want to do this," Hiroshi said again, "But you leave me no choice."

A chi blocker held her head back as it was strapped in position. She couldn't turn her neck now. Her arms were tied down and her feet tied to the chair. She couldn't move her body at all and she felt strangled, crushed. She could barely breathe. Hiroshi Sato left the room and an older lady entered. She held an electrified rod in one hand.

"Who did this to you?" The lady asked, a look of concern on her face.

"The Equalists," Asami responded, her tone as if the lady were stupid for asking that question. She was met with a shock from the rod. She screamed as the pain traveled through her body. Her voice going hoarse.

"Who did this to you?" She asked again. Asami's blood ran cold as she realized what was happening. Terror filled her brain clouding her thoughts and she couldn't concentrate.

"The...the...Amo-" She screamed again as the rod was applied. Her throat burned with the strain and she whimpered when the shock stopped. She tasted blood on her lip and knew that her nose was bleeding heavily.

"The Avatar caused all this, didn't she?" The lady started, "If it weren't for her, then you wouldn't be here. If it weren't for Avatar Korra then you would still be at home with your father wouldn't you Asami Sato?"

"Korra was only trying to help," Asami muttered weakly, her voice harsh and ragged.

"Avatar Korra was only trying to help benders, Asami, not you," The lady whispered. "What did you get from Avatar Korra's investigations into your father's private businesses? Did you gain anything from them? Or did you lose something from them?"

Asami thought about the question, because the lady was right. If Korra was trying to help her then why would she be held captive right now? If Korra hadn't been eavesdropping then she would be at home in her bed and comfortable, not sleeping on hard mattresses or on the ground.

"I lost something, but it was something I was willing to give up," Asami replied finally, because she was willing to give it up to protect Mako.

"Give it up for what? A firebender who doesn't care about you?"

"What? No, he does-"

"That's why he kissed her? Because he loves you so much?

"No."


End file.
